The invention relates to diterpene derivatives which have an immunomodulatory action, in particular stimulating the T-cells, and are thus suitable as pharmaceutical active compounds.
The outbreak of diseases in the end means that the immune system of the individual concerned has been attacked and weakened in a certain way, at least temporarily. Apart from the very specific medicinal treatment of most diseases caused by specific infective agents, general strengthening of the immune defense has an important role, especially since it has been found that the development of tumors and of autoimmune diseases can be partly prevented or influenced in a positive way by generally-acting immunomodulatory substances. In the search for appropriate suitable substances, the pharmaceutical industry to an increasing extent uses, inter alia, various natural substances, mostly in the form of undefined extracts or essences. Known examples of these are the plant extracts from coneflower (Echinacea) or Thuja, which act as immunostimulants and are commercially available. All extracts of this type have the disadvantage that the actual active compounds as a rule are unknown and are additionally only present in very low concentrations, their isolation and the identification of the most complicated chemical structures cause not inconsiderable difficulties, the action is partly non-specific and is often a combination action, or the extract as such is toxic in numerous cases.
The object therefore existed of making available novel pharmaceutical active compounds which can be employed for strengthening the immune defense and which can be isolated from suitable natural plant substance preparations in an unambiguous manner, characterized and chemically modified so that a medicament which is well-defined in its properties, its structure and its pharmacological mode of action can be prepared.